1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire, and specifically to a pneumatic tire which has an improved driving stability on a dry road surface and an improved braking performance on a wet road surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, pneumatic tires used for sport utility vehicles (SUVs) or the like employ a block pattern on their tread surfaces so as to secure their performance of running in river terrains, muddy terrains and the like (see Japanese patent application Kokai publication No. 2001-253213, for example).
On the other hand, the safety performance of pneumatic tires has been requested to be further enhanced along with higher performance of vehicles. Pneumatic tires used for the SUVs or the like are no exception to this request, and thus the safety performance thereof is requested to be enhanced.
What are particularly requested to be enhanced are the driving stability on dry road surfaces, and the braking performance on wet road surfaces. In this respect, if a lateral groove component extending in the tire width direction in the tread surface is increased, it is possible to enhance the braking performance on wet road surfaces. However, this increase deteriorates the driving stability on dry road surfaces, because the increase reduces the rigidity of each block in the tread surface. For this reason, it is difficult to satisfy the driving stability on dry road surfaces and the braking performance on wet road surfaces at the same time.